Every silver lining has a dark cloud behind it – that seems to be Madhur Bhandarkar's philosophy in life and that is exactly what he tries to portray in his films. He tries to show us the huge cloud behind the slim silver lining and it does get too much for a while. Fashion concentrates too much on the darkest cloud and somehow makes for tedious viewing. The characters fail to connect and the cliches galore ruin whatever impact was needed.

What is it about:Fashion tells the rise, fall and resurrection of a small town girl Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) into a supermodel. Meghna's journey from Chandigarh to Mumbai, her rise and fall are all interspersed with the lives of two other models, Shonali (Kangna Ranaut) and Janet Sequeira (Mugdha Godse in a stellar debut).

What is Good: If ever a film deserved a superb rating due to its performances, this is it. Fashion has top notch performances from its leading ladies. Priyanka Chopra excels as the small town girl with big dreams in her eyes, the supermodel reeking of attitude and the defeated girl looking to regain her glory. Kangna Ranaut plays yet another drunkard and drug addict role. She is great as usual, but she better find herself a role where she plays a normal girl or it will get tough for people to keep writing such roles for her. Mugdha Godse looks stunning and puts in a dream performance. For a model who is making her debut, this has to be a superhuman effort. Arbaaz Khan, Arjan Bajwa, Kitu Gidwani, Suchitra Pillai and all the others play their parts well enough. The theme music is good and technically, the film is as sound as can be.

What is bad:Fashion takes a tad too long to tell its story. Also, the cliches (gay designers, bosses with a female fixation, gay best friend for the heroine, drugs, heroine getting pregnant) are a bit overdone. The whole screenplay is rife with conveniences and it hurts to see Madhur Bhandarkar opting the easy way out this time around. Also, the characters somehow fail to connect, which takes the fizz out of the emotional quotient.

Me Thinks:

Go if you dig Madhur Bhandarkar's dark sagas. The film gets a bit too realistic, heavy and slow paced in the second half and if you walk in looking to be entertained, you will be forced to find another way of entertaining yourself. Fashion is a tad too unfashionable and focuses on shocking the audience more than anything else.